The Time Paradox: Final Words
by Sasake
Summary: Basically a romance between Artemis and Holly set immediately after TTP. Straight Romance with a teeny bit of angst, but none really.
1. Chapter 1

**Well I don't know about you, but I was a bit miffed with the ending to the time paradox. After putting in the very sweet kissing scene, and the great chemistry afterwards, Colfer woosed out of putting an inter-species relationship with a metre-high fairy into a book for children! Umm anyway, this fits straight onto the endng of TTP and is my attempt to rectify this situation.**

**In all serious, I am not claiming I can do better than Colfer, nor that he should have put anything like this into his wonderful book. Because I'm a screaming fanboy, I wrote this for my own satisfaction as I'm pretty sure there are no Romances set at this time after the latest book and It seemed like the obvious thing to do. I would love anyone to review this although bear in mind that this is going to be slushy rubbish written by someone who really should know better for his age. I can think of many faults with this and if you want to put more down then I would be glad to know someone has at least read it. So even if you hate this, it would be nice to hear about it and why!**

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She gazed back for a second, then activated her wings, rising a little from the surface.

'In another time' she said, and kissed him on the cheek.

'Holly.' Artemis's voice was warm, and he smiled at her, but it was tinged with a sadness and a look of worry. She hesitated then started to float away.

'Holly' he said again, and this time there was something different about his voice. It wasn't a question but something about the tone told her that she couldn't just leave now. There were unresolved issues here, that would only fester away if they didn't speak now.

'Artemis' she replied, 'what do you want?' Though she knew really. If the thought had occurred to her, it had occurred to him.

Still he hesitated, the words that normally came so fluently from his tongue lying still within his mind. 'I think that – we need to talk. You know what I mean I'm sure. If we don't settle this now then we never will.'

'Artemis,' she said 'forget about it. It was a mistake, by both of us. I was adolescent, worried, scared and alone. We both know it would never have normally happened. It's settled now, don't worry about it.' Her words made sense rationally, and of course Artemis fully understood what had made her kiss him. But he also understood his own emotional psyche, and he knew that he couldn't let her just leave now, as she always had done in all their other adventures. They went through so much together every time, and then every time had to be pulled apart. Each time there was something new, there was a new adventure, and it was like that closeness had never happened. But this time they weren't parting merely as comrades. Not even as friends. Even if Holly did feel like she said, he knew that it would be damaging to his development if he didn't say some things now.

So he took a deep calming breath and spoke, choosing his words carefully. 'Then, if that's true, I'd still ask you to wait. For my sake Holly, I'd like to talk to you, to – get some things off my chest' She smiled at this colloquialism from the young genius, but knew that it belied the seriousness of his request. How could she refuse him?

'OK Artemis, I guess I can delay the second shuttle a while longer.' She turned to the young demon warlock, who was looking unusually shrewd. Doubtless he was getting some explanatory messages from Artemis, although she didn't think the boy would reveal too much of his mental state to the warlock. 'Number One' she said, 'could you ask the shuttle crew to wait a little while longer? You should get below ground with the Lemur, and tell Trouble I've got some things to sort out here. I shouldn't be long.'

'Fine Holly'

'We can go to the library if you want?' This was Fowl, who looked decidedly uncertain of himself. This wasn't going to be easy.

'Holly?' said another voice. Foaly of course had no idea what was going on. The centaur was naturally eager to know why Fowl wanted to talk to her, certain that it was some secret that could be investigated. She hesitated. Could she tell him the truth? Impossible.

It was Fowl who created the excuse: 'I wish to give Captain Short some of my information on the seventh Kraken, Foaly.'

On-screen the centaur's face lit up.'That won't take long Fowl. Surely you can just give her all the files you have so far and let me look at them.'

'Hardly,' sneered Artemis. 'You don't think the information will fit on one DVD do you? And I'm not keen on granting the LEP access to my hard drive. And perhaps I don't wish to give absolutely everything I know away completely. It does pay to know something you don't occasionally.' Foally whinnied frustratedly, highly offended at this obstruction to scientific endeavour. Fowl grinned, the perfect actor. 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Foaly.'

So that was it then. Fowl had created the perfect cover, organising everything as he always did, exactly the way he liked it. Foaly would be so obsessed with the Kraken data that he would never suspect anything else. So even when Holly removed all her surveillance and monitoring gear he didn't worry. Holly alighted onto the lawn and walked with Artemis up the high steps to the front door. He didn't look at her once, but bit his lower lip nervously. Most unlike him, she realised.

As he opened the massive door to the Library, he selected a desk where he knew there was a blind spot in the camera network, and sat down. She sat down opposite him and was oddly reminded of the interview for her first job. Although she was nervous now for very different reasons. As Artemis started to speak, he avoided her eyes, the level, cool gaze he normally maintained replaced with a downcast look.

'Holly.' Again she heard him speak her name. 'Something happened between us when we were – I mean what we – when you –'

'When I kissed you' she spoke softly and he looked up, gazing straight into her eyes.

He seemed to gather resolve and when he spoke again was more confident in his words. 'I want to apologise for what I did again. It was a terrible thing to do to a friend' he said

'Artemis, that's in the past now. We're even.' She grinned and punched him in the arm, perhaps hoping it would make him drop the subject.

He ignored her protests and continued. 'I think that it was probably the hardest decision I ever made. Sometimes its unpleasant to be a genius. I rationalised it, I had to make sure everything went exactly as I needed it to go. I knew that if I left your decision down to chance there was a chance you wouldn't come, and I needed you to. So that's why I hurt you Holly.' He paused for a minute, smiled ruefully and continued. 'I hate myself sometimes. I couldn't just trust you to help me, which I know you would have done. Instead my rational mind brought it down to a choice, whether to hurt you and save my mother, or not to.'

'Artemis, I understand, I would have made the same choice if I could have saved my mother.' Holly smiled at him, trying to convey her forgiveness in her eyes and her tone of voice. Artemis recognised this and was grateful. But still.

'Do you wonder why I told you?'

'I know why you did it Artemis, I understand. I said we were even. Don't let it bother you'

'I don't mean why I lied to you in the first place. I mean why I told you that I had lied to you.'

Now that Holly thought about it, she understood what he was saying. At the time she had felt angry and sick at him. All she remembered about that conversation up to now was that he had lied to her, had played games with people's minds again for his own benefit. But now...

'It was just after we kissed. I asked you...'

Artemis smiled, forcing the expression onto his face. His mouth moved but the attempt died in his eyes, and the smile never came. It was too much to ask.

'You asked me a question. Do you remember?'

_This isn't fair on Holly. You shouldn't force her to account for what she said back then. She wasn't herself. _But still:

'I asked you...' now Holly was hesitating, avoiding his eyes. She remembered but couldn't bring herself to say it.

He spared her the torment. 'The reason I said that it was the hardest decision I ever had to make, was because I was asking myself to choose between the two people I love the most.'

'Artemis..' she looked at him, shocked at the intensity of his emotions.

'And when you asked me – I couldn't Holly. If I'd wanted to I could have taken the easy route, I could have taken advantage of you again. But I couldn't.'

He took a deep breath. 'Because, I -' He couldn't say it, despite himself. Artemis Fowl was not used to expressing his emotions, but his meaning was clear enough. Holly froze. She looked at him, and for the first time they both looked steadily into each other's eyes. One a deep hazel, one a bright sparkling blue. She was startled to see tears around the edges of them. She didn't think she'd ever seen him look so vulnerable.

'I couldn't take advantage of you. I'd have hated myself forever.

'Artemis...' Her voice was trembling and she got no further.

He knew what she must be thinking, and interrupted her. 'I know Holly, its ridiculous. And I know that it was different for you, and I understand why you did what you did.'

_Because it didn't mean to you what it meant to me. If I'd told you I loved you then, it would have been the worst thing I'd ever done to you. _

'I'm sorry Holly. You don't have to say anything.'

Holly didn't say anything for a long time. There was too much to take in. When she finally spoke she chose her words carefully. 'Artemis, think about what you're saying. Neither of us were ourselves in that timestream. I wasn't the only confused adolescent.' She took a deep breath and continued. 'When I kissed you, and up to the point where you told me, I felt like you felt now, I'm sure of it. But its not what you think it is Artemis. Don't let your emotions rule your head. You must know this makes no sense.' It was hard for Holly to say this. She could see the pain it was causing him, but she felt she should do something to stop this, to protect him.

'I appreciate your kindness Holly. But you don't have to try and comfort me.'

'Artemis... I feel like I should say something but I don't know what to say.'

'You don't have to say anything Holly. You've done so much for me already. If you want to leave now, I'll be –'

'Arty! Arty where are you! Don't you even care that your poor invalid mother is awake!' The joyous voice of his mother startled Artemis out of his mood. He was torn between rushing to hug her and finishing what he had already started. He would never see Holly again, he was sure, and wanted to say something, anything, whilst he still had her in front of him. But he could barely hold himself from rushing crying into the arms of his mother. He was paralysed by the conflict of emotions. Despite himself he turned his head to where the sound of his mother's voice was coming, and when he did so Holly shielded, and flew away. He looked back only once before he ran, smashing open the large antique doors of the library and taking the stairs two at a time up to his mother's room.


	2. Chapter 2

Holly flew away from Fowl Manor, her thoughts conflicting in a confused mass inside her.So many emotions were inside her, she couldn't bear it.

_I should have helped him. It's my fault he thinks he loves me. Why did I kiss him, why did I give him hope if I was only going to take it away again._

_Even if he hadn't lied to me, if I had never found out, would I have still taken that hope away from him?_

Her common sense told her: Yes. It was impossible. But still.

_I care for him? Of course I do. But that's different. It was relief that he was alive, it was teenage emotions. _

And she had teased him, toyed with him. Unintentionally perhaps, but...

_Just because he's a genius doesn't mean he isn't a confused young man. You let him take the responsibility. You put the pressure you felt onto him and why? Did you expect him to deal with it? _

_He lied to me. He hurt me deliberately and toyed with my emotions. He knew how I would feel and he did it anyway. No, he did it because he knew it would hurt me._

_Wouldn't you have done the same? If it was your mother._

_No._

_Even if you had thought like him?_

_No._

_If you knew the only way to save your mother was to hurt someone, to lie to them, you still wouldn't have done it? To save her life?_

_Of course I would. _

_Why did I do it? I don't believe I would do something like that just because I was young and scared. But it's impossible._

Thoughts danced around Holly's mind, unconnected and uncontrollable, they didn't bring her any closer to making a decision. She couldn't do anything now. She didn't think she could leave Artemis now. She couldn't go below ground and she couldn't face him just yet. She focused on these two things, blocking out everything else. She had to delay her return to Haven first, and then worry about what to do after that.

She landed on the grass outside the grounds, the young Sprite sergeant snapping to attention when she unshielded.

When she spoke she was surprised at how calm her voice was. 'Get yourselves and the Shuttle below ground. I'm going to be here for some time. If Commander Kelp kicks up a fuss, tell him I'm taking some of my 3 months of missed leave. If he kicks up more of a fuss tell him to talk to Foaly. He'll know what I mean.' The excuse sounded poor to her, but the young sprite didn't seem to notice. Holly didn't realise it but she was becoming something of a legend in the LEP; even the testosterone filled young Sprite respected and admired her. Also, who would expect what her real motives were? No-one in their wildest dreams.

Artemis was, if anything, even more distraught than Holly. The Euphoria he had felt after seeing his mother had almost vanished now. It was late at night and his parents had gone up to their room. It was silent in this part of the Fowl Manor, and Artemis was attempting to meditate. But he was finding it too difficult. Finding his quiet space was proving to be impossible with the thoughts that were clamouring around his head. Despite what he had said to Holly, he still desperately clung onto some hope.

_Would it be so bad if I stayed like this?_

She had asked him. Wouldn't it be better if she could stay the same age as Artemis, the equivalent age for a fairy? Which meant that she had thought, that maybe there could be –'

Artemis shook his head, as if he could physically clear the hope from his mind. He had taken away that chance himself when he confessed to her. No, he had lost the chance when he had lied to her in the first place.

_If I hadn't though? If I had trusted her, told her that I needed her to save my mother. Asked her to help as a friend. What would have happened if I had been able to answer that question truthfully? _

Again he tried to shake this question from his mind. It was pointless to dwell on what had passed. He already knew what would have happened anyway. It would have ruined what friendship they already had. When they had got back, if not before then, Holly would have realised the mistake she – they both had made, and it would have been impossible for them to go on as they were now, as friends.

_But still..._

He couldn't help feel that he had lost something. Logically perhaps it was for the best but for once Artemis Fowl wasn't particularly interested in logic. He wasn't used to letting his emotions rule him.

_You don't even deserve her friendship._

The thought flashed across his mind and he tried to force it out. Self-pity wasn't going to get him anywhere.

_What have you put her through over the short time you've known her? Probably the worst moments of her life. _

Images of the time he first met Holly Short flashed over his mind. The kidnap. The mind games. He had deliberately tried to break her down, coldly and methodically.

_'Three days? You could have killed me. What kind of ...'_

Holly's voice from back then haunted him now. She was so disgusted that she couldn't even speak. What had he done?

More images flashed through his mind. The time when he had taken her magic in the Arctic, the time he had tricked her in Spiro's apartment. He saw her die, pleading for his help.

_Stop it._

He told himself. This wasn't getting him anywhere. He truly believed Holly saw him as a friend, whatever he might deserve. He heard an exaggerated cough. Butler had looked in on Artemis attempting to meditate and seen the frown on his face, the creases above his closed eyes.

'Artemis. You'll get yourself nowhere like that' Artemis sighed and stood up, not worried that Butler had seen his moment of weakness. A few years ago he would have done anything to keep up his icy exterior. How things change.

'Thank you Butler. Did you want something?'

'I think your parents would like to see you, although they haven't said anything.' Artemis knew that Butler was much more sensitive to this subject than he was. He nodded his assent and they walked in silence down the vast staircase. Butler knew that if Artemis wanted to tell him what was wrong then he would.

_Really._ _I'm becoming quite the troubled teen. Perhaps I should grow one of those absurd fringes that covers half of my face. And people wouldn't notice that my eyes were different colours. Two birds with one stone._

The thought amused him slightly. He had got to stop laughing at his own jokes. It was getting to be quite a habit.


	3. Chapter 3

If Artemis imagined Holly was much clearer than he was about where the two of them stood, he was sorely mistaken. If anything she was even more confused. After flying around aimlessly for a few hours her 'Captain Short' instincts had kicked in. She needed to come up with a plan. She would need somewhere to stay first of all. She didn't know how long she would be above ground for so she might need to eat and drink. And then there was the issue of... well what comes after food and drink. She pushed aside the idea of making a shelter almost as soon as she thought of it. A ridiculous notion. Now that No.1 had lifted the enchantment on human dwelling she could hide in a house or other building. But it wasn't as simple as that. She couldn't shield indefinitely and she certainly couldn't do so in her sleep. And most people would notice a fairy in their bed. So she needed somewhere that she wouldn't be noticed. An ideal place would be large, somewhere with not too many inhabitants and preferably with plenty of rooms and passageways to hide in.

'Oh.' she said aloud.

Fowl Manor loomed above her. The answer to her question was so simple it took Holly a few minutes to realise there was no reason not to, perverse though it may seem. There were plenty of rooms in Fowl Manor that Holly knew were rarely entered, despite the CCTV covering every possible area. She assumed that there was a fairly high probability that the family would generally spend all the evening in each others company, even more likely seeing as one of them had apparently just recovered from the brink of death. So there was no reason not to take advantage of the situation. It might seem strange to her but her common sense told her to sort herself out.

_If you can't decide what to do in the long term then sort out what your doing right now. Concentrate on the details if you can't deal with the big picture._

Holly was almost running on automatic now. She chose a room with a large four poster, one that was almost covered in dust. Nothing had moved in this room for decades at least. All the furniture was covered in white sheets. Methodically Holly set about making herself at home, placing her wings carefully on an eighteenth century armchair and disconnecting all of her suit optics before slipping it off. But she didn't know what to do next. All this planning had just been to distract herself from what she was really here to do.

_Get a hold of yourself Captain. Did you stay up here for nothing or did you stay here to make up your mind._

She lay back on the priceless antique, her pointed ears resting gently on the eiderdown. All the pillows seemed to have been replaced, the goose-feather that would have normally disturbed her replaced with some synthetic yet soft substance. Perhaps this room had been entered more recently than she had thought. As she lay there the ridiculousness of her situation started to become apparent to her.

_What are you doing Holly? Is this really necessary? If all you have to do is tell him that you're sorry but you didn't mean it then why did you need to go to this length?_

But she couldn't do that. It wasn't what she wanted to say to him.

_It would be better for him. He's a human, a young man. He needs to grow up, find someone he loves and marry them. It would be better for you. Think about your position._

That would be the right thing to do. Artemis would grow up and meet someone. Perhaps he had already met someone, Minerva for example would be a good foil for Artemis Fowl, and she knew he had always had a soft spot for Butler's sister.

_All you're doing is stopping him from living his life. Don't you owe him more than that?_

It didn't enter her mind that she should be anything less than the best of friends to Artemis. She wasn't dwelling on the past as Artemis had done.

_So, Captain Short?_

She groaned aloud. It was terrible when your thoughts ganged up on you.

Artemis was, for the moment, happy. In the company of his family, his wonderful loving family, the image of Holly had almost faded from his mind. As he watched the twins play from his armchair by the fire. His parents were holding each other in their arms and smiling with so much joy in their faces, he had almost no worries. His father made a joke about how he looked like his own father in his chair, with his designer dressing gown and slippers. Artemis responded with a stern look down his nose and his mother burst out laughing. His father suggested that perhaps a pipe and a copy of the financial times would offset the whole look? Artemis threw a cushion at him, which caused the twins to howl with excitement and glee, and they joined in with pelting their father, who had cracked up at this unexpectedly childish gesture from Artemis. Soon the whole family was scuffling around on the floor, the rich sound of their laughter echoing round the room. And although Artemis was happy, immensely happy, he had an inescapable sense of there being something missing. He didn't feel complete as he knew he should, and that thought was incredibly painful. His tears as he hugged his mother were not entirely caused by his laughter.

_Did I mean it? Did I mean it when I kissed him? Did I mean it when I asked him if we could be together? _

Pointless questions perhaps, but ones that she needed to answer. Because if she didn't then there was nothing more to this than what she had thought.She saw Artemis in her memory, dying. When he had spluttered back into life she had been so relieved. So happy. Did she kiss him then because of that?

_Yes. I did mean it. I wouldn't have done that unless I had wanted to with all my heart. Even when I was young I always did exactly what I wanted to do._

A revelation perhaps. So it had been more than just a mistake.

_Artemis Fowl. After all we've been through together. All the things we've seen and done. _

_Artemis is probably the greatest friend I have._

This too was a revelation. She thought of Foaly, Mulch, Julius, Trouble. Even Butler, Juliet. Fond memories, and their friendships were strong. But when she thought of Artemis Fowl, so much more came into her head. In the Arctic Circle he had saved her. She could see his concerned face now, the first time she had seen him as a good person. He had been with her through so many things. When Opal Koboi had come back, Artemis had been there with her, the only one left. Together they had saved so many lives. And in the Demon incident she and Artemis had been perhaps closer than ever. This time they had been truly alone, just the two of them lost in time together. They had saved each other so many times. And yes he had hurt her. But she knew why, and she knew he would never hurt her unless he felt he had to. He had told her that hurting her was the hardest thing he had ever done and she truly believed him. So Artemis was a friend, perhaps the greatest friend she had. But was he anything more than that?

_Do you love him?_

The question was obvious really. It should have been the first one she asked herself. But it was too difficult to think like that, too much for her.

Did she know the answer now?

So many images, so many memories flashed across her mind. Images of Artemis Fowl, the boy who so long ago had kidnapped her on that dark night. How could they have known then all of what was to come. She saw his face, smiling at her, laughing, joking. She saw him crying, once or twice, for Butler, for his mother, his father. For her.

_How do I really feel?_

Then something rose to the top in the turmoil of her mind. One particular memory, or set of memories. Artemis holding her in his arms. In the deep snow of northern Russia, on the red earth of Hybras, under the ground as she screamed inside for the open air. One emotion and one emotion only was associated with these memories. A feeling of warmth and happiness, a feeling of being safe, protected and cared for. This feeling spread over Holly now, and she smiled. She knew what it was.

'Love'

Artemis climbed the stairs to his bedroom, thinking for a second that he had seen a slight haze on the landing. His mind was playing tricks on him, he thought. And then Holly appeared in front of him.

'Holly?' it was impossible.

'It's me Artemis. I'm here'

'How –' His throat was try, his mind was blank. How could she be here? And yet she was there, walking towards him with a shy smile on her face.

'I've got something to tell you.'

_This is a dream. How is this happening?_

She had stopped in front of him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to be sure she was there. Trembling he raised his hand.

Holly flung herself into his arms. She hugged him tight, her head pressed against his chest. He didn't move for a few seconds, then put his arms around her and pulled her even closer, as if he could never let her go. They were so close to each other, neither wanting to move, just to hold each other forever. Eventually she pulled her head back so that she was looking in his eyes, still clutching him by the waist.

'Holly.' He still couldn't quite believe it. He felt she would disappear if he took his eyes off hers for a second. He wanted to ask _why are you here? _but he knew why. So many doubts and questions formed in his mind. Instead he just said;

'Are you sure?'

She chuckled at this and replied with a voice filled with sincerity: 'Yes'

'Even though I lied to you? Hurt you?' A smile, that seemed to warm his very heart

'Yes'

'Even though I'm a Human? Even though I'm too young?' He was babbling now and he knew it. She silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. She moved her hand to his cheek and let it rest there.

'Just say it Artemis. Tell me what you want to tell me.'

And without a moment's hesitation he whispered; 'I love you.'

'And I love you.' And with that she kissed him. They were united for what seemed like hours before she drew away.She had one more thing to say.

'And that's all that we need to know.'

Artemis looked into her eyes and she looked into his. Neither of them felt any doubt or any worry. They held each other close and kissed again.


End file.
